12 Examples of Twitter Done Right In the Manufacturing and Engineering Industries
Social media is for everyone, even for B2B manufacturing & engineering companies. I’ve compiled 12 companies in the manufacturing and engineering space who I think are doing a great job on Twitter. They are in no particular order, and I judged them off of how well I think they are engaging with their audiences. So, without further adieu:
ANSYS, Inc (@ANSYS_Inc)
ANSYS develops, markets and supports engineering simulation software used to foresee how product designs will behave and how manufacturing processes will operate in real-world environments.
Why ANSYS? ANSYS excels at retweeting relevant content as well as replying to messages directed towards them. ANSYS also does a good job on the number of tweets, putting out anywhere from 10-20 per day.
American Control Electronics (@AmericanControl)
American Control Electronics is a leader in power control technology. Their work in the DC Drives business has made them an industry standard through products and brand names like Minarik Drives.
Why American Control Electronics? ACE does a great job at retweeting relevant industries that their drives serve. A great example of aligning yourself with your customers and their industries.
Bishop-Wisecarver (@BWCnews)
Bishop-Wisecarver is a manufacturing company that specializes in guide wheels and guided motion technologies. Their product line includes quality components and accessories, manual linear guide systems, actuated linear guide systems and rotary guides and systems.
Why Bishop-Wisecarver? BWC is a prime example of giving a company a personality. Along with relevant information to their audience, they aren’t afraid to throw in any tweets that most anyone would find interesting, fascinating, and hilarious.
CGI, Inc (@CGI_Motion)
CGI, Inc.’s core business is manufacturing precision motion control solutions. CGI designs and builds high quality gearheads for AC induction motors, permanent magnet DC motors, stepmotors and servomotors.
Why CGI? CGI may not overwhelm you with a large number of tweets, but when they tweet, they mean it. CGI does a great job at scouring the “twitter-verse” and finding the most relevlant tweets for their audience. You won’t find any “fluff” from these guys.
Design world (@DesignWorld)
Design World is focused on serving the OEM machine builder, design engineer, and engineering manager. They deliver relevant editorial content and the most up-to-date supplier product and technology releases for engineers.
Why Design World? One word: consistency. It doesn’t matter if it is early in the morning or in the wee hours of the night, weekend or holiday, Design World is tweeting information to their followers. They are never lacking something to say, and as a result, they do a good job by putting out more than 20-30 tweets per day.
Exair Corporation (@EXAIR)
Exair was incorporated in 1983 as a manufacturer of compressed air-operated products to solve problems in industrial plants. Their product lines includes a variety of products from Vortex Tubes to liquid atomizing nozzles.
Why Exair? Exair is a really interesting case. Not only do they put out relevant tweets from their @exair account, but they empower their own engineers to have their own Twitter accounts to tweet and connect with engineers on a more personal level. By having common pictures and twitter handles, it also helps exair with their branding on Twitter, allowing them to appear bigger than they actually may be. (See: @EXAIR_JP, @EXAIR_BF, @EXAIR_RB, @EXAIR_LE, @EXAIR_KE, and @EXAIR_NR)
Henkel North America (@Henkel_NA)
Henkel Adhesive Technologies is the market leader in adhesives, sealants and surface treatments. They serve many different industries including electronics, aerospace, metal, assembly, packaging, and maintenance and repair.
Why Henkel NA? Henkel does a fantastic job at connecting with their audience and followers on a personal level. If you watch their tweets, you may find things along the lines of Henkel congratulating them on weddings, responding to their questions in their native language, and wishing them good luck when they come in for interviews.
ITW Heartland (@ITWheartland)
ITW Heartland is a manufacturing company with more than 30 years of serving customers around the world. They specialize in precision engineered machines, parts, gears, and electro-mechanical products across a variety of industries.
Why ITW Heartland? If you want a good example of aligning yourself with your customers’ industry, look no further. This gear manufacturer understands that many of their gears are used in robotics applications, so they try and corner the market on those tweets. They clear, consistent, and focused in their strategy and it shows.
Minarik Automation & Control (@Minarik_Corp)
Minarik Automation & Control has been providing total solutions for the automation and control industry for over 55 years. They provide customers with a wide range of quality product lines and value-added services for automation and motion control applications.
Why Minarik? When you are a distributor, the best thing you can do is make your suppliers look good, and Minarik definitely does that on Twitter. They tweet and retweet about their suppliers, helping them get their message out.
Objet (@3D_Printers)
Objet Ltd., is a leading provider of high quality inkjet-based 3D printing systems and materials. Objet’s 3D printing systems are ideal for any company involved in the manufacture or design of physical products using 3D software or other 3D content.
Why Objet? Objet connects with its followers on a one-on-one level more so than most anyone else I’ve seen. If you examine their tweets, a high majority of them are directed at someone specific. They’re a great example of being their for the customer, answering questions on their terms.
Rapidform (@Rapidform)
Parent company, INUS Technology, Inc., has been a leader in providing technology and services that unlock the power of 3D scanning. Their flagship Rapidform software processes 3D scan data for a variety of uses, from manufacturing to medical treatment.
Why Rapidform? Here, we have an example of well-rounded Twitter user. Rapidform tweets on a consistent basis, has a well-rounded approach to its content that it delivers, retweets good information, and just does an overall good job.
Rogers Corporation (@Rogers_Corp)
Rogers Corporation is a technology leader in innovative solutions for power electronics, advanced foams for cushioning and protective sealing, and high-frequency printed circuit materials.
Why Rogers Corporation? Rogers Corporation is a retweeting machine. They do a fantastic job at keeping up with all that is going on in Twitter and sharing everything that is relevant to their followers. They frequently comment on links, congratulating, thanking, and giving their thoughts. Great example of using the content that is out there to help fill your feed.
-Lance Brown
